Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of The Worlds is returning to arenas throughout the UK next year, with Steps’ and stage star Claire Richards joining the show as Beth, The Parson’s Wife, opposite Strictly and West End star Kevin Clifton as The Artilleryman.
Tickets for the Life Begins Again Tour, which will include visits to Manchester, Glasgow, London and Hull, are on sale at livenation.co.uk
Wayne said: “Why are we calling this The Life Begins Again Tour? It’s certainly a name appropriate for the times we have been living through since the first lockdown in 2020, caused by the pandemic.
“But ironically, the title comes from a musical phrase in my original 1978 double-album just as Humanity learns that the Martians, with all their superior intelligence, incredible machines and weaponry, hadn’t foreseen one particular thing – the common cold, and the bacteria that caused it. And in a sneeze, they were gone!
“Now from all over Britain, mankind began returning to their homes. Life was beginning again. By 2014 I decided that original musical phrase should be expanded into a full song, performed by all the characters we have met along the way, and it has appeared in every tour and production since.
“HG Wells conceived his story’s ending with Human bacteria defeating the invading alien force. But how could he have possibly known, that over 120 years later, a virus born on Earth, would appear and reap havoc on innocent people of all ages, colour and ethnicities, world-wide.
“Let us hope, that like HG’s Martians, this horrible disease is being truly defeated, as life will begin again.”
TOUR DATES
MARCH 2022
23 NOTTINGHAM MOTORPOINT ARENA
24 BIRMINGHAM RESORTS WORLD ARENA
26 CARDIFF MOTORPOINT ARENA*
27 BRIGHTON CENTRE
28 BRIGHTON CENTRE
29 BOURNEMOUTH INTERNATIONAL CENTRE
30 BOURNEMOUTH INTERNATIONAL CENTRE
APRIL 2022
01 MANCHESTER AO ARENA
02 GLASGOW THE SSE HYDRO
03 LEEDS FIRST DIRECT ARENA
05 HULL BONUS ARENA
06 LIVERPOOL M&S ARENA
07 NEWCASTLE UTILITA ARENA
09 LONDON THE O2*